TCI: Give Belongers Amnesty Too – Says Attorney Mark Fulford

#Providenciales, March 6, 2019 – Turks and Caicos –

THE AMNESTY FIGHT: RIGHT FOR THE WRONG REASONS AND LIMITED IN SCOPE – GIVE BELONGERS AMENESTY ON GOVT DEBTS TOO
by- Mark A. FULFORD LLB

The recent Amnesty Bill passed by the Turks and Caicos parliament on the 4th of March 2019, has caused some consternation. The government says it was necessary as a part of doing business. The Opposition responds that it should have been done in a more prudent and transparent manner.

What if both parties have missed the point?

The current Government says previous administrations got the valuations of tax rates wrong over the years, including the Interim Government i.e. The British. They all failed year-after-year to identify the miscalculation or the “handshake agreement” upon which it was based.

Both parties may have missed the real issue. There maybe two solutions that includes Belongers and is fair to all Turks and Caicos Islanders:

I. The Government is right: governments of both parties and the Interim Government, led directly by the British missed this issue. As such, there should be no pointing of fingers at anyone. The Government is also right that in business (and reality), one must make decisions based on the larger picture, rather than narrow concerns or political emotions.

Let’s take Beaches for example, which is large and dominant because they are the best at what they do. Every other international brand in this region has fallen into bankruptcy, except Beaches.

In practical terms Beaches brings the most tourists to our shores. If Beaches accounting says that we have priced them out of the market, we must remember that affects the airlifts to our shores. This means that Beaches is actually caught between the TCIG and the airlines. Any good government understands these levels of pressure and knows that too much tax, too much red tape, means not only Beaches but eventually airlines will abandon the Turks and Caicos Islands, which presents an even bigger problem.

II. However, the Opposition is also right: More should have been done to gain a specific understanding of the actual accounting behind the Amnesty Ordinance.  Governments should never try to solve just the problem before them. But a progressive government would have used this problem of misevaluation of tax, to do a “Super Development Agreement” with Beaches and other Accredited Hotel Properties which would craft a solution that will provide a stable stream of revenue for the next 10-15 years.

I am aware how fast things change, but that only means our foresight and adaptability must be on the cutting edge, so that we can create e a new model for the hospitality industry that present and  new investors find attractive and will flock to our shores.

The Opposition is also right to have raised the point – argued by its leader the Hon. Washington Misick MP –  that provision be made for the “little man” in this extension of Amnesty. I don’t think we went far enough and it may be a legal question.

Under the TCI Constitution (2012 Edition), the rule against discrimination is clear: No benefit can be extended to one Turks and Caicos Islander that is denied or even not extended to any other. (Under our law, Mitt Romney is right, companies are citizens). Therefore, the Opposition should have demanded and the Government should have proposed that every Belonger, whether in arrears for NIB, NHIB, Business License, Crown Land Lease etc. should all be extended Amnesty on the same terms given to the 21 entities to whom this Ordinance applies.

Since the government argues that the People of Turks and Caicos will lose no principal under the Ordinance, but the companies will have the benefit of time through an extended grace period, it is my view that the same grace is the constitutional right of every Belonger and should be extended to all of us.

Mark A  Fulford